cell

Texting isn't just for utility, it's a sport too

The Olympics aren't the only competition taking place this summer, there's also the U.S. LG National Texting Competition. And Austin Wierschke, 17, has become the reining champ for the second year in a row.

Wierschke, who hails from Rhinelander, Wis., is now deemed "the fastest texter in America," according to the Associated Press.

His secret? "Abnormally fast thumbs," he told the news source.

The competition, which takes place in New York's Times Square, tests texters on three skills: speed, accuracy, and dexterity. The thumb athletes must text blindfolded, know "text speak,&… Read more

The main perk of Starbucks-Square deal

Wednesday's top headlines are served with a low-fat triple shot of mobile news:

You may wonder why it matters that Square partnered with Starbucks. Customers could already pay for coffee by using the Starbucks app and show their phone screen to the barista. And how much time does that really save compared to taking out your wallet?

This deal is all about awareness. Seeing the Square logo in stores will help people get more comfortable with the idea of phones being a wallet replacement. Apple will also be pushing this concept in iOS 6 with the Passbook app that … Read more

U.S. report: FCC's cell phone radiation guidelines outdated

The Federal Communications Commission should review its cell phone radio-frequency (RF) exposure limit, which was set 15 years ago, because it does not include testing for potential harm from holding phones directly against the body or factor in the latest research, a government report recommended today.

When the RF exposure limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram specific absorption rate (SAR) was established in 1996, phones were bigger, bulkier, and carried in holsters outside of clothes and not in pockets, said Marcia Crosse, director of health care at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and co-author of the report. … Read more

Congressman introduces new bill for cell-radiation warning labels

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a democrat from Ohio, introduced a federal bill today that would put warning labels on cell phones and create a national research program to study cell phone radiation levels.

H.R. 6358, named the Cell Phone Right to Know Act, would also require the Environmental Protection Agency to update the standards for specific absorption rate, or SAR, the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a cell phone.

"It took decades for scientists to be able to say for sure that smoking caused cancer. During those decades, the false impression created by … Read more

Man texts 'I need to quit texting' before crash

Do you have premonitions? Do you sometimes just know bad things will happen, even though you have no idea how or why?

Please, then, show solidarity with Chance Bothe.

He both had a premonition that chance would not favor him and lived to tell the tale.

It seems that Bothe, a college student from Granado, Texas, was driving along a road and texting when something struck him: perhaps he shouldn't be driving along a road and texting.

As Today.com has it, he was having a texting row with a friend. Then he caught himself and texted: "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."… Read more

LG Optimus Elite to get QuickMemo

The LG Optimus Elite from Virgin Mobile will get QuickMemo through an over-the-air update.

According to the carrier, the feature will be available in August.

QuickMemo lets you jot down notes and draw doodles with your fingers on top of the phone's screen image (though virtual notebook paper is an option too).

To access QuickMemo on the Elite, you'll have to push and hold both buttons of the volume rocker. Four different brush types and 16 colors are at your disposal as well, and you can save and send your memos via e-mail, text, Bluetooth, and more.

I … Read more

Olympics fans told to stop tweeting if they want TV

Dear people of London,

We need to talk. And you need to talk less.

You're going to have to change your ways, because you're really messing up the Olympics TV coverage.

Yes, even more than NBC is.

Because all of your stupid, pointless, self-serving, self-aggrandizing texts and tweets are clogging data systems. Which means that TV coverage is being disrupted. And we can't have TV coverage being disrupted.

Well, except in the U.S.

We, at the International Olympic Committee have been forced to inform you, kind, polite people of London, that, as we have just told Reuters, … Read more

Verizon may carry LG Optimus Vu

With its mammoth 5-inch screen, the LG Optimus Vu is hard to miss -- and so is that Verizon logo.

According to Android Police, the "phablet" device has been spotted in the wild with Big Red's name emblazoned above the display.

In addition, the device runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich natively. This is a surprising upgrade since we nicked the Vu down a notch in our very own review because it came with Android Gingerbread out of the box.

Other than that, nothing much has changed. There are still the 8-megapixel camera in the … Read more

Spike physical keyboards for iPhone let you type with ease

For consumers who have an iPhone, but yearn for the feel and touch of a physical, BlackBerry-esque QWERTY keyboard, SoloMatrix may have the solution.

Its product, Spike, is a protective case that has a hinged physical keyboard, which can be overlaid on an iPhone's display.

This lets users type away on a tactile keyboard, without the need for wires, docking, Bluetooth, or an app to download. You can help fund (and consequently preorder) Spike through its Kickstarter page.… Read more